Shocked by extremely high listening volume

[kite7]

Here's my little story today

I got on the bus at the bus stop like every other day to go to university. As I was slowly walking through the bus, I heard music being played very loud. There was no seat so I just stood around, and I was looking for some big open cans producing the sound. When more people got on the bus, I walked down further towards the middle of the bus. Right next to me was the sound, not produced by big cans but my eyes targeted a typical ipod user with ibuds sitting down. I wasn't so sure it was him but I tilted my head little by little towards him and I was shocked. He must have been blasting it at MAX volume. My friend and I were talking about him right beside him, and I bet he didn't even hear a word we said. The volume level was beyond tinnitus inducing levelsl. Even the girl standing near us was glaring at him and his ibuds.

When I got home , I tried with my stock YP-Z5 earbuds. I turned up the volume to MAX; I wouldn't dare put them in my ears. That was how loud it was except on the bus it was even louder since it could be heard over the loud bus noises. I surprised he isn't deaf yet, I think even a few seconds at such volumes can completely ruin my hearing. It was that bad.

I felt like talking some sense into him but nah, his life, his hearing. If he doesn't want to preserve his hearing then that's too bad.

 

[ShinyFalcon]

I had a similar experience in my bus... From what I can tell, a person had earbuds, because it was leaking pretty badly. I could hear the screeching guitar (or something like that... not very good with musical instruments) and the "impact" from the drums from the other side of the bus, and it annoyed the hell out of me. The bus isn't a full length bus, more like 3/4 the size of a normal one. I'm guilty of this myself, because I used to own some earbuds, and the sixth graders in my bus (I was in ninth grade at the time) were constantly yelling, so I had to raise up the volume. I don't think I have tinnitus, but sometimes I hear a slight ringing that lasts about three seconds. Hope not =(

 

[Indygreg]

A lot of people make very poor choices in life, especially in their youth. Sadly, telling them will do very little to change that. There will be more hearing damage in our younger generations due to the incredible growth of ipods and other devices. It used to be that you had to have a decent home or car system to really blast music, and those both had limits imposed on people (neighbors telling you to turn it down, limited time in the car, etc). Now teens and college kids have their ipods on all the time and can sizzle their ears without bothing anyone.

 

[kite7]

I suppose these people must have getting very mild tinnitus after such high volumes

 

[F107plus5]

Yeah; some folks have a real problem with reality.

Probably what happened was he got on the bus with the vol turned just a bit high and someone mentioned it and so he.....turned it up even higher!

And then someone else mentioned about THAT, and he turned it up even louder, and then someone......"ah ha! That'll learn 'em! Is THIS loud enough; suckers!!"

Some people are fun to watch.....sad.

 

[GlendaleViper]

I posted this in a related thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlendaleViper /img/forum/go_quote.gif The other day, I was waiting for the subway. The tunnels are loud enough to begin with, almost demanding some sort of hearing protection. I was wearing my HD25-1s, which provide approximately 20dB of noise attenuation to begin with, plus I was listening to music (of course), at a moderate level. There was a guy standing a few feet away from me, listening to those frickin' iBuds. I could hear his music. Clearly. Sickening! How is it possible that a person's ears can tolerate this? Beyond the sound quality issues when pushing a DAP to 100%, the volume alone makes me wince. And here I am, listening to my own music, through isolating headphones, and a person a few feet away has his music so loud that it's actually bleeding into my own!

That thread is a highly recommended read, by the way. More examples abound, plus there is participation from our resident audiologist Head-Fiers.

 

[NtD Gr3nade]

Some kids at my school told me the other day that my E500s were going to ruin my hearing. I laughed, because one of the kids has earbuds! I tried to explain to them that they isolate so I don't have to listen loud, but people are so frikin ignorant about it. It makes me mad, but makes me laugh too that they will soon run into titinitus with the levels they listen to.

 

[joe]

I only have one thought: maybe he was already deaf. My old neighbor was actually born deaf, but did listen to music at high volumes as he found the vibrations pleasing.

Your miles may vary, though.

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlendaleViper /img/forum/go_quote.gif I posted this in a related thread:

An interesting, if sad, read. BTW, it seems that over here the earbud plague has been replaced by the cellphone speaker plague - certainly much less dangerous, but at least as annoying.

 

[chubbybunny]

Ugh, I deal with people like this every day when I go to class. It amazes me that people don't notice how loud they're listening to their music.

 

[2ndbest]

Depending on the character, I sometimes ask if they can turn it down a little, it's better for me and certainly alot better for them. Some don't seem to care about their ears though, they turn it as loud as possible to drown out the noise. I truly feel sorry for them, why not just buy a cheap IEM to preserve your ears?

 

[chubbybunny]

Yeah, that's the main reason (besides the horrible sound) I don't like my iBuds. To drown out the rest of the world requires my iPod to be cranked up WAY too high.

 

[M0T0XGUY]

That sort of thing happens all the time to me. Once, I began a conversation with a girl about her music preferences, and soon we got into talking about John Mayer and Dave Matthews Band, some of my favorite artists. "Oooh, I have some on my iPod; you have to listen!" she said, ecstatically. "Of course," So, as is standard fare, she gave me one earbud, and kept the other for herself. I listened to the iPod's click noise for a few seconds as she searched for a song; eventually she arrived at Bigger than my Body, and proceeded to play it. I honestly thought my ears would bleed. I ripped the headphones out of my head and asked, "Can you please turn it down?." She nodded, and then spun the click wheel until the volume bar was at half way. She looked a bit taken aback when she resumed the song. "Nick, are you serious?! You can't expect me to listen to Mayer in microphonic sound quality!"

I chuckled softly, and then gave back the headphones. I probably should have made a comment about her hearing (or lack thereof), but I just let the moment pass; she'll learn eventually the permanent effects of her loud listening.

 

[kite7]

I guess some people just need someone else to tell them they are listening too loudly for their own good

 

[DrBenway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indygreg /img/forum/go_quote.gif There will be more hearing damage in our younger generations due to the incredible growth of ipods and other devices.

I agree, but I think the problem will be far, far worse than simply "more" hearing damage. The iPod is such a status symbol for even pre-teens, these days, that virtually all kids have either an iPod or a cheaper knockoff.

So we are seeing a massive increase in the percentage of people damaging their hearing. Since these kids are starting much younger, they are exposing themselves to this hazard over a longer period of their lives.

I didn't get a player until I was in my early 20s. My friend just bought a Nano for his 10 year old, because she was literally the last in her class that didn't have one. He very intelligently chose to use Apple's volume-limiter feature, so she will probably be fine. I doubt most parents even know this feature exists.

Couple all this with the sheer decibel level that even cheap phones pump out, and we can anticipate a time, perhaps ten to fifteen years from now, when moderate to profound hearing loss is going to become a chronic part of living past the age of 25.

I believe this because of my own experience. I'm 46, and I got my first portable player, a Sony Walkman II, around 1980 or so. I was mercilessly teased, called a geek, and generally laughed at. No matter, I thought, I love music and I want access to it wherever I am. Loudly. Very, very loudly.

I scoffed at warnings from concerned friends and family about the volume level at which I was listening (mostly to punk, metal, classic rock and electric blues). This was combined with frequent attendance at ludicrously loud punk and metal shows, often pressed up against the front of the stage.

Well, now my ears ring permanently. At night, as I try to drift off to sleep, I hear a constant ringing. Fortunately, that's the only situation in which the tinnitism is prominently audible. It is annoying though, also, when listening to very quiet music, such as chamber music or folk. In any case, I have adjusted my listening habits to prevent further damage.

Sorry to be long-winded, but here's my point:

We are looking at a looming disaster here, except for the lawyers who will inevitably get rich litigating the crapstorm of lawsuits that people will bring when they realize they can't hear well enough to have a conversation in a restaurant.

What do you bet that Apple's legal people are already planning strategies to defend themselves from the inevitable?